The Interference IV, Book 2: Dark Wastelander
by Newbiespud
Summary: The adventure in Haven City gets more complicated as friends old and new join the fight, enemies become begrudging allies, and darkness turns against other darkness. The life of the Interference hangs in the balance, and no one knows what his ultimate fate will be. Meanwhile, ripple effects are changing the story of Dream Drop Distance.
1. Reboot

**The Interference IV, Book 2: Dark Wastelander**

Chapter 16  
Reboot

"Which is why you, Sora and Riku, are to be tested for the mark of a true Keyblade Master." Master Yen Sid's trademark intensity was focused on the two young men standing in front of his desk, while Mickey and Donald stood near the window. Yen Sid stroked one of the two tails of his long gray beard, then returned that hand to his lap. "No doubt you fancy yourselves masters already, but it takes years of training. Only a true master can teach you the proper way. Both of you are self-taught Keyblade weilders – an impressive feat. However, the time has come to let go of preconceived notions, forget what you know about the Keyblade, and begin your training again with a clean slate."

The entire room gasped in surprise.

"But that's a formality, right?!" Sora exclaimed. "I already proved myself. Me and the King, and Riku – we can take on anything." He looked up at his friend, who stood half a head taller than him. "Right, Riku?"

Riku's eyes fell to the floor. "I don't know." He put forth his hand. In a flash of electricity and dark smoke, the Soul Eater sword appeared in his grip, its creepy blue eye pointed at the master across the table. "I think that in _my_ heart, darkness still has a hold." He dismissed the sword and lowered his hand. "Walking that path changed me. I'm not sure if I'm ready to wield a Keyblade. Maybe I do need to be tested."

Sora's face fell. "Riku..." In usual fashion, though, he bounced back and faced Yen Sid with renewed determination. "Then count me in. Put me through the test! Just watch – me and Riku will pass with flying colors!"

The rest of the room's occupants looked among themselves, not sure how to respond. Yen Sid simply nodded with a blink. Then he turned his head slightly towards Sora. "One other issue before we begin – Sora, is Roxas still awakened in your mind?"

Sora looked off to the side, where he and only he could see the ghost of Roxas standing a few feet next to him, in his Twilight Town clothes. The former XIII's arms were folded and he looked somewhat bored. "Yeah," Sora said, "I'm even starting to see him now. Is that, uh, normal?"

"Alexander's Interference in our 'storyline' has had unforeseen consequences," Yen Sid replied. "There is no precedent for us to follow. All we can do is take caution. Sora, can he see and hear us through you?"

The spirit of Roxas unfolded his arms and gave a questioning look at Sora. _"What's this about?"_

"I don't know... Uh, I mean, yes he can," Sora responded. "Same as always."

"Very well." Yen Sid's head turned further to his left, looking directly at the spot where Sora had been looking. "Roxas. You have no doubt been gaining greater power and awareness over time. The nature of this test may accelerate that. Therefore, I must forbid you from interfering with the mark of mastery examination, no matter what."

Roxas looked confused. _"I... wasn't planning on it? I_ _thought I was just along for the ride until we figured out a way to bring me back._ _"_

"He hasn't really been able to do much as it is," Sora said.

"I understand," Yen Sid replied, looking back at Sora. "Still, if the opportunity arises, you must resist temptation. It would not be fair for Sora to receive extra help in the Sleeping Worlds while Riku does not."

"Sleeping Worlds?" Riku asked. "What are those?"

"Does Roxas swear to stay out of the exam?" Yen Sid insisted.

Roxas pinched the bridge of his ghostly nose and sighed. _"Fine, fine. I swear."_

"He swears," Sora relayed with a nod of his head.

Yen Sid nodded back. "Very well, then. Sora and Riku, let your examination begin."

* * *

Jak dropped the Zoomer into the low-flying lane before bringing it to a midair stop and jumping off. He and Daxter were halfway between the Industrial Zone and the Port. It was also where there happened to be a great flaming wreckage that had crashed into a water tower. Krimzon Guards and Heartless (or "Dark Warriors," as the Baron officially called them) were swarming around it, looking for other parts and keeping the curious civilians at a distance.

Daxter, clutching into Jak's shoulder plate, whistled at the carnage as they looked on from afar. "I don't think they're from around here, Jak."

"Looks like there really are other worlds. But why is this here and now?" Jak muttered, his eyes narrowing as he looked over the crowd and at the guards. The last thing he needed was to start another chase, but these guys were preventing him from getting closer and performing his own investigation.

"Excuse me. Step aside." The crowd and the line of Krimzon Guards parted to make way for a red-headed woman in a skimpy, skintight outfit and plentiful tattoos. She glared directly at Jak and said, "Are you–"

"The love of your life? Of course! We've found each other at last!" Daxter jumped off Jak's shoulder and admired the woman from below. "Rraow! I _do_ love a woman in uniform. Wanna bark some orders at me? Woof woof!"

The woman pointed a laser pistol between Daxter's stubby legs, making him flinch and put his hands up. "I really don't have time for this."

A flicker of recognition crossed Jak's face. "Are you... the Baron's daughter?"

"Ashelin Praxis," she replied, holstering her pistol. "And you must be the 'hero' that Alexander talked about."

"Hey! Heroic _duo_!" Daxter complained.

Ashelin beckoned them to follow. Daxter grumbled and jumped back onto Jak's shoulder as he walked behind her. The guards to the sides aimed their helmeted faces at him, probably giving him dirty looks as he passed, but they didn't stop him.

"Did Alex say anything about this?" Ashelin said, gesturing towards the brightly colored wreckage.

Now that he was closer, Jak could see the ship in slightly greater detail. It seemed to be made out of blocks, many of which were missing as though something had blown voxelized chunks off of it. All that seemed to be left here was some kind of cockpit module, a few body blocks, and one small jet engine out the back. "No. Doesn't look like anything he talked about," Jak said.

Ashelin cursed under her breath. "So we're completely off-script, then. Question is, will this be good for us or bad for us?"

The Heartless looking around the ship, most being the cybernetic Strafers, suddenly all as one came to attention, jumped into the air, and disappeared into dark portals. The Krimzon Guards standing around recoiled in confusion.

"...If the Heartless are worried, then it might be good," Ashelin noted. "Where's Alex?"

"You don't know?" Jak asked.

"I know the two of you took the scenic route to the Palace last night," she replied with a little bit of annoyance in her voice. "But I assume you made it out."

Jak's head lowered. "Well–"

"Hey!" Daxter interrupted. "How do we know we can trust you?"

Jak waved his hand dismissively in front of Daxter's face. "Do you know where the Oracle is? Big square hut at the end of the Water Slums."

"I know that place," Ashelin replied, taking a few steps towards her personal Hellcat Cruiser hovering at the other side of the clearing. She stopped and looked back, noting the expression on Jak's face. "Is something wrong?"

Daxter groaned and wiped down his face with his paw. "Alex got kinda messed up by some clone of his, so–"

Ashelin's eyes widened. She raced over to her Cruiser and fired up the engines.

The Ottsel jumped off Jak's shoulder and tried to dash over to the base of the vehicle, getting buffeted by the air currents the whole way. "Hey!" he frantically shouted over the sound of the engine. "Do you and him have a thing going? 'Cuz if not, lemme get your digits!"

Jak carefully approached behind Daxter. "What should we do about the ship?" he shouted.

"If you want to help," Ashelin yelled as the Cruiser rose into the air, "try tracking down where the pilots emergency-landed before my father does! They might be allies!" She then shifted the Cruiser into the high lane and boosted off towards the Industrial Zone.

"We'll party hard! BIG CITY STYLE!" Daxter screamed after her.

* * *

"Geez... Never thought I'd miss that black hood."

Lea (formerly Axel) hid behind a wall pillar along the northern street of the Port. It didn't provide much cover, but it was better than nothing. No longer a Nobody, he was wearing a more standard set of adventuring clothes. But if he'd had a hood, black and conspicuous as it was, at least it would help cover the most conspicuous part of his figure right now: His short, regular human ears. Everyone else in this world seemed to have ridiculously long elven ears.

And with the menacing-looking red guards sweeping every zone after the crash, Lea decided the last thing he wanted to do was get caught.

He peeked around the pillar again, then hid as a patrol of Krimzon Guards stomped by. "I've run some ugly missions for the Organization..." he muttered to himself once they were out of earshot, "but this might take the cake."

Once the guards passed, there was an opening. The street along the water stretched a very long distance in either direction. The flying vehicles overhead were a potential opportunity, but he didn't want to attract attention by outright stealing someone's ride. But if he stayed put or tried to hoof it, he'd get noticed sooner or later.

There was a gaudily decorated building a short way down, with a neon sign in a language Lea didn't recognize and a giant animatronic... creature slowly flapping its fat maw over the entrance. He wasn't sure what kind of building it was. There was a chance it was packed and he'd just get noticed faster, but he had to take some kind of gamble. At least it probably wasn't a government building (unless that pig-looking thing was supposed to be a police mascot, and Lea didn't think these guys had ANY of the required sense of humor for that).

Another guard was coming around from behind, so Lea power-walked his way down the street and quickly ducked through the automatic door into...

...a saloon? A really atrociously _smelly_ saloon. Ugh. At least there was next to no one around. A pretty-looking blonde was tending the bar, and there was a menacingly armored dude in one of the darkened restaraunt booths to the side, a rifle decorated with an alien skull resting on the table. The man and Lea briefly made eye contact – the dark-skinned man had a cybernetic red eyepiece instead of a right eye.

Feeling nervous, Lea quickly hurried to the booth closest to the door and sat down, hoping no one would ask why he was there.

* * *

 _"ATTENTION LOYAL SUBJECTS! THIS IS BARON PRAXIS!"_

"Oh!" Keyblade Master Aqua flinched just the tiniest bit. The tiny metal post just a few feet away in the middle of the Bazaar had bloomed a giant holographic image of Baron Praxis's emblem. The emblem vibrated as the Baron's electronic voice blasted out from the post.

 _"In the coming hours you may hear rumors that a spaceship has crash-landed in our fair city. Those rumors are FALSE! We are NOT under attack from any extra-terrestrials, and there is no indication that our enemy, the Metal Heads, have any kind of space program. The brightest minds in the Krimzon Guard have determined that the incident near the Industrial Sector is an elaborate Underground hoax meant to terrify you all and weaken our city to outside attack! Be not afraid! Our walls are secure, our defense systems top-notch!"_

Aqua looked around to see how the other civilians in the Bazaar were reacting to this. Most were looking at the display, some were ignoring it or just listening. All of them looked tired and afraid.

 _"That being said,"_ the announcement continued, _"if you find any strangely colored blocks in the city, deliver them to the nearest Krimzon Guard! Any person caught in illegal possession of one of these blocks will be IMMEDIATELY arrested! Also, be on the lookout for strange persons among you."_

Aqua started to back away from the hologram.

 _"There have been reports that the Underground hired dangerous Wastelanders to perpetrate the 'spaceship' hoax. If you see someone who does not look like us, do not approach them, and instead report them to the Krimzon Guard at once. They are subversives hell-bent on destroying Haven City. Do NOT let them operate for a second longer! Serve your city! Sacrifice for your city!"_ The hologram then shut off.

There were too many eyes in the Bazaar. Some of them were looking curiously at her, with her strange partially armored attire and short, rounded ears. Aqua got the sense that this Baron wasn't exactly loved by the populace, but were they afraid enough to follow his orders? A confrontation with these guards wasn't something she was afraid of, per se, but it would complicate an already complicated mission.

"Oof!"

A male voice bumped into her while she'd been backing up. She turned around and saw... some kind of brightly colored flying monkey?

"Quick, let's get you away from prying eyes," the flying monkey said in a distinctive accent and flapping frantically. "I have a place you can lay low for a while." He turned around and flew deeper into the Bazaar.

Aqua didn't see much of a choice, so she followed the flying... monkey? Macaw? Moncaw?

The air was suddenly filled with an ear-piercing claxon that repeated over and over. Red lights on the giant city walls started blinking.

The moncaw looked around frantically, then breathed a sigh of relief. "No guards in sight; it's not us. Let's get to Onin."

"Wait," Aqua finally said, stopping. "It might be one of my friends."

The creature landed and turned back to her with an exasperated look. "Look, lady, a city-wide alert is a _very_ bad time to try to regroup. Your friends will have to shake off the guards on their own."

* * *

 _"I saw that dog-looking thing go this way!"_

 _"Spread out. Don't let it escape!"_

As boots stomped across the dirty streets of the Slums, Goofy peeked out from under a collapsed part of the street, then crawled backwards into the tunnel surrounding a sewage pipe.

"Psst."

Goofy turned around and cried out "Woaah–!" before a hand reached out and clamped his giant mouth shut.

 _"What was that? Did you hear that?!"_

A heavily tattooed man with a furrowed brow looked Goofy over and noticed the shield resting on the pipe. "You friends with Alexander?" he asked in a gravelly voice.

Goofy nodded vigorously, making 'Mmhmm! Mmhmm!' noises through his closed mouth.

The man grinned. "You're gonna be right at home in the Underground, then. C'mon. Got a tunnel that leads right to our hideout. The Shadow will want to meet you." He released Goofy's mouth and, after waiting to make sure the cartoon dog wasn't going to make any more noise, carefully crouch-walked further into the tunnel.

Goofy put a finger to his oversized chin. "The Shadow...?" he murmured quietly to himself. He picked up his shield and crawled along.

* * *

 _"I think she went this way!"_

A duo of guards charged up the steps of Mar Memorial Stadium with rifles loaded and drawn. They stomped towards the security bollards partially blocking the left wing of the stadium. Just as they were about to cross over, though, a woman with blue-green hair stepped in the way. "Woah woah, where do you think you're going?!"

 _"We saw a dangerous fugitive run this way,"_ said the guard on the woman's right. _"She's armed. She took out my KG Zoomer in one shot! I had to jump off!"_

"Well, I work back here. If I'd seen a dangerous armed fugitive run through here, I would've noticed."

 _"Still have to investigate,"_ the guard grumbled, and took a step forward. But his partner put a gloved hand on his armored shoulder to stop him. _"What?!"_

 _"You don't know?"_ his partner said. _"This is the race mechanic. Erol says the garage is off limits."_

"And for good reason," the woman jumped in, folding her arms. "If the Captain thought anyone had tampered with the NYFE Zoomers, especially his, you'd better believe heads would roll." She rolled her eyes. "Look, I didn't see anyone. Try somewhere else before you lose her."

The first guard angrily pulled his shoulder away from his partner's hand and growled. _"Fine. Let's search the stadium grounds."_ The two guards walked away towards the other hall that led to the public entrance.

Keira sighed and hurried back to her garage. "Now how about you tell me..." When she walked back in, though, the room seemed to be empty. Empty, save for the drawn curtain hiding her secret project... Fearing the worst, Keira threw open the curtain and saw the purple-haired, helmeted, short-eared woman staring at the papers taped to the wall near her Rift Rider. "Hey, what are you doing?!" Keira shouted. "Get out of there!"

"Sorry, sorry," Lucca apologized, quickly moving back through the curtain. "Just figured it would make it easier to hide."

Keira frowned and closed the curtain all the way on both sides. "Guess I couldn't expect you to know that. But seriously, don't tell _anyone_ what you saw back there, okay?"

Lucca stared at the curtain for a few moments, before saying, "Are those..."

"Don't. Say. Anything," Keira insisted.

"I won't, but... Are those temporal teleportation calculations back there?"

More than a little shocked, Keira stared back at the strange girl and said, "How would you know that?"

Lucca smirked and adjusted her glasses, which briefly caught the glare of the overhead light. "I'm an inventor. And let's just say I have a lot of experience with time travel. You helped hide me, so if you need any help with that..."

"Hold on, back up." Keira stepped closer to Lucca, glancing over her shoulder to make sure no one else was around. She whispered, "You're a time traveler too...?"

"Not right now. But I had to travel across millions of years to help prevent an apocalypse in my future."

"Well... okay," Keira mumbled, still a little numb. "I'm... Well... Me, my father, and two of my friends, we came here through a Rift. About 200 years into the future. This terrible, terrible future! Since then I've been trying to find them and build our way home." She invited Lucca back behind the curtain, and the inventor followed. "The calculations are done, the replica's almost finished; I just need to find the rest of the pieces. And the Rift Ring itself."

Lucca pushed her glasses up. "Hmm. The ship we had, it was capable of traveling under its own power. But you need this 'Rift Ring' to do that here."

"Do you still have that ship?"

"No, sorry. Some genius decided to crash it into a monster." That gave Lucca an idea. "But he might have a time spell that could help. Have you seen a boy, around 15, short ears like mine? Possibly carrying a shield?"

Keira folded her arms under her short tank top. "That rings a bell... But the last time I saw someone like that, it was... over a year ago, I think."

Behind her glasses, Lucca's eyes widened in alarm. "What...? Why would he have been here a year ago?"

"Maybe he was time traveling?" Keira asked.

"Maybe..." The inventor wasn't sure how the story of this 'game' was supposed to go, so maybe it was necessary for Alex to be here early. But then why the delay? Why were the four of them only able to arrive now? Something seemed very off about all this.

* * *

Aqua ducked into the modest little brown tent and knelt down. The sides were filled to the brim with dressers, bags, bowls, occult items, liquid tanks, and the occasional mysterious unexplained light. On the center rug sat an emaciated blind old woman, a row of candles in front of her. The moncaw landed on the bowl atop the woman's head. Aqua knelt down on the other side of the candles.

"This is Onin!" the moncaw announced, then gave a bow. "And I am _Peckerrrrrrrrr_ , her humble translator."

Aqua bowed her head, though the implication of the bird's name hit her a moment later. She blinked and decided to forge on, saying, "Nice to meet you. My name is Aqua. Thank you for letting me stay here."

The old woman began to trace patters in the air with a mystical blue light from her fingertips. Pecker observed the motions. "Onin says a protector of light is always welcome, and much needed in these times. She humbly asks if you might lend your Keyblade in our defense, now that the protector of darkness has been crippled."

"Protector of darkness..." Aqua echoed, slightly confused. "Do you mean Alexander? And... how can someone be a 'protector of darkness,' anyway?" Every time she'd seen darkness used in her travels, it was to corrupt and destroy.

Pecker face-winged. Onin's eyes narrowed, and she began to wave yin-yang symbols into the air and gesture forcefully. "Now you've done it," Pecker muttered. "She's going on and on about the balance of light and dark, shadows, the nature of the heart, yadda yadda yadda." He looked directly at Aqua and pushed his wing-fingers together. "Here's the summary. A clone opened up Alex's heart and now his power's all unfocused and he's perpetually on the verge of becoming a Heartless."

Aqua gasped. "Oh no..." She needed him to chase down Kronos, Hyperion, and Themis... didn't she? Aqua stood up. "Then I'd better find him and get the information I need–"

"Nononono, sit down," Pecker insisted. Aqua frowned but knelt back down. Onin gestured some more, and Pecker said, "Here's the big, BIG problem. Onin says if Alexander kicks the bucket before our world reaches a 'nexus event,' basically an end to our 'story,' then... there's a chance all of us in this world poof back into nothing! Because his heart _observing_ us is what's giving us our existence. And until we secure some kind of future for ourselves, we need an Interference."

This was getting worse and worse. "Is that true?"

"And that's just _one_ worst case scenario!" Pecker continued, half-translating and half adding his own take on things. "You four newcomers are game characters, but you're technically kind of Interferences yourselves, so maybe we'll be fine if Alex goes away. But if he becomes a Heartless... there's no telling what kind of power a Heartless Interference might have, especially one like him."

Closing her eyes and furrowing her brow, Aqua said, "So you'll need a Keyblade if that happens."

"We need a Keyblade right _now_! That's just the endgame! Right now, three evil factions are about to reshuffle their alliances, and innocent people – _arrrk!_ – like _yours truly_ are stuck in the crossfire! Would you really abandon us in our hour of need?"

Onin finished her gestures, clapped her hands rogether, and bowed in pleading prayer.

Aqua took a few moments to think. Her closest friends (in the past) had been robbed by powerful imposters, and the leader had made it sound like _all_ of the worlds were at stake. But her own future self had insisted she find Alexander first. Was this why? Did she really have time to help yet another world? Or was she supposed to save Alexander from the darkness? Or was it too late and she just needed to find out what he knew about Kronos?

She opened her eyes and sighed. "I'll see what I can do," she replied. "But as soon as I'm no longer needed, I _have_ to get back to my mission."

Onin smiled and made a few hand motions. Pecker translated, "That's all we ask."

The tent fell into awkward silence. Aqua still couldn't exactly leave yet due to the city alarm still sounding off, and Onin seemed finished with her exposition.

"Say," Pecker said out of the blue, "do you want to play a minigame?"

* * *

It felt like an eternity had gone by.

The Oracle's hut was blurry and unfocused.

 _"Rise and shine..."_

Alexander Karsath started with a jolt and pushed himself up onto his elbow, looking around. The room was empty save for the Oracle statue itself, which was silent.

He felt _awful_. Numb but also burning and also like something was crawling inside–

Alex banged his head against the wooden floor. _Crawling in my skin. Great, I'm a walking Linkin Park song now. Just what I need._

He pushed himself towards the wall and maneuvered to a sitting position. Every bone in his body felt sore. The last time he'd gotten a Dark Eco injection from the Oracle hadn't been exactly pleasant, but at least that pain eventually passed. Now there was this constant undercurrent of baseline horribleness.

The door to the hut opened, shining the morning light into the candle-lit hut. Ashelin Praxis hurried inside, closing the door behind her, and knelt next to Alex. "Are you alright?" she asked, reaching a hand out to his face.

A sick feeling rose up in Alex's chest, like he was about to throw up... or explode.

"Stay back!" he shouted, swatting Ashelin's hand away.

Two seconds later, violet energy crackled across his entire body, causing him to scream out in pain. Wispy tendrils of darkness pooled in his chest and tried to spread out, but the purple electricity seemed to push it back, burning the wisps away until there was nothing left.

Ashelin backed away in fear.

After half a minute, the dark electrocution finally stopped, and Alexander's body fell still. Alex was barely conscious.

When he regained control of his body and could see properly again, Alex groaned and looked down at his body. He pushed away the folds of his blue coat and tugged down the collar of his black undershirt.

Across the skin of his chest was a void-black mark, shaped like a sun with tendrils grasping out, reaching across almost half of his torso. Like a gaping, cracked hole where his heart should be. Tiny wisps of darkness occasionally whirled up from the center of the mark.

Alex looked up at Ashelin, who could clearly see the hole in his chest too. "Well," he groaned, "that's not good."


	2. What's Left to Lose

Chapter 17  
What's Left to Lose

Alexander, clutching his chest through his shirt, limped his way from the door to the Precursor Oracle's hut to Ashelin's Hellcat Zoomer floating just off the edge of the wooden walkway. Ashelin had offered to help him walk, but Alex didn't know when the darkness would force him to have another electrocution episode, so he insisted on walking under his own power. He basically threw his body across the small gap into the passenger-side seat of the personal cruiser, then groaned his way to an upright position.

When he was settled into his seat, Ashelin carefully took off into the air, moving below top speed so that they weren't jostled around too much. "How long do you have?" she asked over the sound of rushing wind. "Is is treatable?"

"I don't know... and I don't know," Alex muttered back.

Ashelin stared straight ahead quietly as the Palace gradually came closer into view. Eventually, she said, "There was a ship that crash-landed in the city this morning. Doesn't look like anything from this world."

Alex's eyes widened, and his head snapped towards Ashelin. "A Gummi ship?! Was it made out of, uh, soft colorful blocks?"

"Something like that."

The Interference stared distantly at the dashboard and put a hand to his forehead in shock. Who the hell would have followed him _here_?! And why _now_?

"I've got Jak looking for the passengers – they seemed to have escaped into the city before the crash. With any luck, we'll find them before my father's guards do."

The Hellcat flew into the Palace's shadow, meandering around to the front gate. Alex coughed hard at the pain in his chest and groaned, "Then why are we heading towards...?"

"Because the entire city is in danger, which means we need a truce." Ashelin hovered the Hellcat down to the base of the massive staircase leading up to the Palace's front gate. She hopped out of the driver's seat and marched around to the other side to help Alex out. "My father already knows that you're our best hope of getting out of this. We just need to make it official."

Alex grunted, taking Ashelin's offered hand only long enough to get his feet on the ground. The two of them climbed the steps. The enormous automatic steel door at the top flipped opened in response to the presence of their security passes. "'Out of this'... You mean giving Heartless free access to every location in the city? Out of _that_ situation?"

Ashelin made a noise somewhere between a sigh and a groan. "No one ever accused my father of making the best decisions."

Before they passed through the gate, Alex turned around and stared at the giant stone statue of Baron Praxis between the Palace and the Port. It depicted him posing triumphantly with his sword in the air and his mouth open in a militaristic cry of victory. Alex's eyes lowered from the Baron's face to the round, concrete base of the statue itself.

"What are you looking at?" Ashelin asked behind him, her eyes narrowing at the portrayal of her father. "That awful statue?"

Alex turned back towards the gate. "Just reminding myself... of something for later." The two of them walked (or limped, in Alex's case) into the Palace's entrance hall.

Then Alex froze and fell to the ground, writhing with dark energy for a minute as his darkest thoughts screamed into his ears.

* * *

"Well, what do we have 'ere, ey?"

"Guh!" Lea flinched back and covered his mouth as an incredibly fat, greasy man in a hoverchair floated next to his booth. An ungodly stench followed a second later like a lagging aura.

The man reached out with a ring-adorned hand towards the side of Lea's head, making him draw further back. "Another short-eared whelp." His greedy rotten-toothed sneer fell into a contemptuous pout. "You're not from around here... and no doubt an acquaintance of that Alexander _brat_."

"What's it– kuh!" The half-second Lea took to uncover his mouth for a sassy response was too much for his unprepared nostrils.

The ugly, ugly man floated another foot lower and slammed a fist on the table (not that hard, in all honesty), making his flabby upper arms jiggle. "I don't care what that scurrying rodent says or what he tells you – NOTHING happens in this city without Krew's say-so. And everyone who underestimates me is _expendable_. Do I make myself clear?"

"Mffcrystal," Lea mumbled behind his hand. At this point, he would say anything to make this guy go away.

The opposite happened; the big fat man just got closer. "Now, I'm _very_ tempted to throw you back out for the Krimzon Guards to chew on, ey? But I'm a generous sort, so I'll give you ten... no, _five_ seconds to figure out a way you can be useful to me."

Lea's eyes narrowed. At this point, Krew was just getting on his nerves. He was mentally prepared to cut and run if it came down to that. But for the moment, he decided to lift his other hand and summon one of his chakrams in a wreath of flame.

Krew flinched back, but there was a grin on his face. " _Ahhhh_... More of that magic. Yes..." He finally, mercifully, began to float away. "Take care of a nuisance for me, and I'll let you hide out here. The most basic of trades, ey? Sig!" Lea noticed the dark-skinned armored cyborg-ish man stand up from the booth at the other corner of the establishment. "See to it that he tidies up the docks. If he gives you any trouble... toss him into the water, and let the mines sort him out."

Visibly swallowing a sigh or some other vocal complaint, Sig walked on over to Lea's booth and said in his deep voice, "Let's go."

Lea rolled his eyes. Another dirty job for another dirty boss. "This is apparently my lot in life..." he muttered, before sliding out of his seat and following Sig outside. As the automatic doors to the Hip Hog Heaven opened, Lea finally allowed himself a big gulp of air. The smoke-and-iron tinge of the city was at least leaps and bounds better than the... _odor_ inside the saloon.

A couple of Krimzon Guards walked by, and Lea instinctively tried to slip behind Sig's armor. The guards stopped and looked in his direction.

Sig waved his hand. "He's with me, and you know who I'm with."

The guards immediately pretended they hadn't seen anything and kept on walking.

Smirking, Sig turned around and focused his red cyber-oculus on Lea. "So, cherry, you really one of Alexander's buddies?"

Lea raised an eyebrow and ran a hand through his swept-back hair spikes. "I'm really more of a scarlet. But yes, Alex is kinda the reason why we came here. You know him?"

Sig chuckled and shrugged back. "Good friend of mine took him under his wing while they were in prison. Worked with him a little bit. Hoping he can help me out with something down the line."

The words reached Lea a second late and he reeled back. "Wait a sec – prison?"

"Job first, answers after." Sig began walking down the street leading east. "Come along, cherry."

" _Excuse_ me." Lea refused to budge, and instead tapped his temple with his trademark grin. "The name's Lea. L-E-A. Got it memorized?"

Sig looked back at him for a second, then dismissively kept walking. "Whatever you say, _Cherry_."

Lea slumped his shoulders in defeat. "Ughhh."

* * *

"Wow, you're AMAZING at this!" the mon-caw shrieked.

In quick succession, the glowing symbols shooting up from Onin's mystic bowl were shattered by the force of Aqua's precise concentration. The Keyblade Master knelt across from them, her blue eyes darting from symbol to symbol in rapid succession. The little game they were playing allowed for twenty lost targets or misfires. Aqua had missed two targets at the beginning and then _never again_. According to Pecker's little score-counting device, she was well over 1000 points.

Onin rather abruptly drew her hand to one side, and the symbols stopped appearing. Aqua blinked a few times in confusion, regaining her sense of awareness. Onin resumed making arcane gestures while Pecker watched them and translated. "Onin says," he said, "it has been so very long since a true master has challenged her humble games. She is very pleased, yes very pleased indeed by your skill and enthusiasm. She would like you to come back sometime later and make a TRUE test of your abilities. For now, however, you have earned a valuable prize."

The mon-caw flapped over to some boxes off to the side. He dug around, muttering to himself for a bit, before pulling out three orange metallic orbs with his wing and tossing them to Aqua, who awkwardly caught them one by one. "Here, these are Precursor Orbs. There used to be thousands of these things lying around! Now you're lucky if you can find 200 in a lifetime."

"Oh... okay," Aqua mumbled. "What should I do with these?"

Onin continued making strange gestures, and Pecker tilted his head and gave her a strange look. "Something about 'unlocks' and 'cheat codes'... No idea. I guess you could pawn them for a lot of cash! That's what I'd do."

Aqua frowned skeptically. She had just gone on a universe-trekking adventure – her munny situation would be good for a while yet. "I don't know... Maybe these could go to someone more in need?"

Pecker and Onin gave each other a wondering look. Then Pecker gestured towards the tent door and steepled his wing-fingers. "Sure, we could give it to some rrrrrandom citizen, awwwk! And watch them get taxed by the Krimzon Guard before you can say 'asset forfeiture.' The best thing we can do is get them out from under the thumb of Baron Praxis, but even that is a smaller problem than the Heartless for now!"

The Keyblade Master let out a defeated sigh and added the Precursor Orbs into her inventory. "Maybe I can use them as synthesis materials..."

* * *

Jak was having no luck finding any activity Zooming through the city. Any trails of chaos had already been swept back into order by the Krimzon Guard, and there weren't any situations cause enough for alarm besides the usual excessive show of force in the Guards' routine patrols.

"Finding a needle in a haystack oughta be easier than this!" Daxter quipped over the wind. "At least the hay won't call for armed bloodthirsty guards wherever you're tryin' to look!"

"Maybe they found shelter," Jak muttered. He tapped the communicator at his side, which expanded out into its floating-camera form and circled around the duo. "Let's ask around. Keira?"

* * *

The mechanic groaned as her communicator rose to life and floated around the Zoomer garage. Lucca reflexively moved towards the time machine's curtain just in case. "What is it now, Jak? Need another mountain moved?"

 _"What, it's always gonna be like this now?"_ the Ottsel's voice crackled back through the device. _"We're in this together; can't we just WORK together?!"_

"Yeah, you're right! So how about that advice I gave you earlier? How did that go? Oh, right! You stormed the Palace and put the whole city on alert, and now I've got Krimzon Guards knocking on MY door!"

 _"Are you in danger?"_ Jak's gruff voice asked.

Keira looked ready to toss her wrench across the room. "No, but...! Grah, that's not the point! Why are you even calling me? Shouldn't you be laying low or something after a stunt like that?"

 _"Look, another ship just crash-landed in the city. Might be allies. Do you know if anyone's tried finding shelter in or around the Stadium?"_

The machanic glanced at Lucca, whose expression was unreadable past her thick glasses. "It's a terrible future. Everyone's looking for shelter wherever they can."

 _"Just a yes or no will do fine, Keira!"_ Daxter shot back.

"I'll look into this ship thing," Keira muttered. "I'll let you know if I find anything, or anyone. Just... don't rope them into your revenge quest, not when there's more important things to do!"

 _"Hey–"_ But Keira had already shut off the communicator. That was that.

Lucca stepped out from being halfway behind the curtain. "Friends of yours?"

Keira walked over to a nearby table littered with mechanical junk and leaned back against its edge. "Used to be." She let out a shallow sigh. "Back then, we were just... a bunch of kids, and my dad, trying to save the world from evil wizards. Now... everyone's lost, and crazy."

The inventor nodded knowingly and stared off into the middle distance. "Yeah, no one stays plucky adventurers for long. All of a sudden you're in the ruined future and watching the recording of the moment your whole world is going to end..."

Keira blinked, then let out an awkward chuckle. "I forgot... It kinda hasn't sunk in that you've done this already."

Lucca adjusted her glasses with a grin. "Don't worry about it. I'm just happy to have someone to talk to who gets it. And listen – if those guys call back, feel free to tell them I'm here. I can take care of myself, and making unlikely allies is half the fun of time- and space-travel! This one time, we got stuck 65 million years in the past, and in order to find our time machine, we had to join the conflict between our human ancestors and these advanced Reptites that were trying to wipe them out of the history books!"

The mechanic went wide-eyed. "...Wow. That's..."

"Heh heh heh. See? Just another day in the life of Lucca, time-traveling inventor extraordinaire!" She performed a little twirl and victory pose to punctuate her proclamation.

Keira couldn't help but laugh. "Alright, alright. I guess you've got a point there." She adjusted her lean and faced Lucca more directly. "So, were you sort of the mechanical support like me, or did you see some combat?"

The inventor reached for the Wondershot in its long holster and twirled it in her hand once. Her other hand strayed to her bag and its hidden supply of bombs. "Oh, I was mechanical support AND a frontline fighter. Monsters, mages, cosmic horrors, you name it. And it hasn't been too long since my adventure ended, so I've still got most of my experience."

"Wow," Keira said again, folding her arms and smirking. "If what you say is true, I'm starting to feel a little outclassed. I'm not really the 'get in there and punch things' type."

Lucca sighed and lifted her glasses to rub the bridge of her nose. "Well, in all likelihood, you've probably messed up less than I have... Back home, I had a reputation for making things that exploded. Even my breakthrough invention, the Telepod, only _accidentally_ created a Gate through time, and after all this adventuring I'm pretty sure that was at least partially fated by the heart of our world... Sorry, metaphysical stuff."

"No no, this is fascinating stuff," Keira insisted. "Way better than trying to explain things to Daxter and hear him go, 'Huh? What? English please?'"

Lucca grinned and chuckled again. "See, that look of stupefaction is what I live for, sometimes."

Keira laughed and threw up her hands in surrender. "Okay, sure. Try that on Jak and Dax next time you see them. I'll bet it'll stop being fun real quick."

The two mechanics continued to laugh and bond and swap adventuring stories, while just outside, the city waited for chaos to erupt.

* * *

The Shadow, the younger past version of the Green Sage Samos, stared up at Goofy incredulously. Ex-Commander Torn beside him repeated his report. "He says he's one of the passengers of the ship that just crash-landed in the city, and one of Alexander's former comrades."

Goofy nodded enthusiastically. "Ah-hyup! The name's Goofy." He thrust out his gloved hand down at the diminutive fledgling sage and resistance leader.

Young Samos covered his mouth and muttered to Torn, "No doubt he's from another world – he's not all edgy and jaded like everyone else." Torn just rolled his eyes, and Samos gave Goofy an uneasy smile. "Well then... Goofy. Uh, is that a nickname, or...?"

"Nope! Just Goofy will do. I mean, I guess you could call me Captain Goofy of the Royal Knights, but that hasn't been my job title for a while, now that I think about it..." He covered his mouth. "Actually, I'm probably not supposed to talk about it...!"

Torn looked a little impressed, unexpectedly so. "A soldier, then."

"A soldier who uses a shield alone, no less," Samos noted, spotting the weapon on the interdimensional traveler's back.

"Oh, this? Yeah, I mean, it's no Lockshield or Keyblade, but I think it gets the job done!"

"Don't worry, Alex has shown us that a shield in the right hands can turn the tide of a battle," Torn assured him with a growing sense of pride. "If you'll lend us your strength, I think you'll fit right in with our cause."

"Great!" Goofy looked around with a hand on his chin. "What IS your cause, anyway?"

"We're the Underground, a resistance movement of Haven City," Samos explained, pacing around the central map table. "It's a lot to explain to a complete outsider, but long story short: The current Baron is a menace to every innocent citizen, and we seek to restore the rightful heir to the throne."

"We also help defend the city, when the Krimzon Guard are too inept or compromised to do anything," Torn growled.

"Hmmmmm," Goofy hummed in thought. "Donald always said not to get too involved... Has Alex been helpin' ya out?"

Torn and Samos gave each other an uneasy glance. Samos raised a finger and said, "Well, he did warn us about the raid on the Palace. That let us move our agents around ahead of time."

The ex-Commander let out a ragged groan. "He's moved on to playing ALL the factions, not just us. If what I'm hearing is right, he's gonna be running this city by day's end. Now that's a scary thought."

Samos looked back at Goofy and said, "Let's go with a 'yes.'"

"Works for me! What can I do to help?"

"Right now? Lay low and don't make too much noise," Torn answered, drawing his curved knife and inspecting it before heading for the secret door. "We're still waiting for the dice to finish rolling before we see where they land."

"Er, what he means is: Your time will come soon enough," Samos said quickly. "For now, though, erm... Actually, there IS something I could use some help with..."

Goofy saluted. "Whatever you need, Mr. Shadow Sir!"

Samos nodded and gestured towards one of the halls leading deeper into the Hideout. A short boy and a crocodog emerged from the lantern shadows. The boy's hands were clasped together nervously. "Are you any good with children, Goofy?" Samos asked.

"A-hyuck! Well, I'd like to think so!" Goofy replied, stepping over to the kid. He towered over the elf-eared child, but he crouched down and reached out his gloved hand to the little boy.

The kid seemed rather instantly enamored with Goofy, his big eyes widening and a silly smile growing. Before he could take Goofy's hand, though, the crocodog growled and lunged, chomping and squeezing Goofy's outstretched fingers in one crunching chomp.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH-HOOOHOOOHOOO-HOOOOIIIIIIEEEEEEE!"

* * *

The gigantic metal door to the throne room of the Palace opened in pieces, the ostentatious seal rising upwards before the thick metal doors unsealed and creaked apart. Alexander Karsath stumbled through, a constant glare on his face as he clutched his chest. Ashelin followed behind him, looking equal parts concerned and determined.

A full platoon of elite, yellow-armored Krimzon Guards flanked the path to the throne, where Baron Praxis himself lounged impatiently, tapping the arm of his usurped seat. When he saw Alex, a sick sneer crossed his face and he leaned forward, shoulder-first. "Well, well, well. That chair doesn't seem so uncomfortable now, does it?"

Alex snarled and reached out a twitching hand that could, at any moment, turn into a sparking claw. "Keep that up," he grunted, "and the next time I have an episode, it'll be while my hand is around your neck."

Praxis chuckled and sneered even harder. "And with that, the boy has been burned away, leaving only a killing machine in its wake. It's... freeing, isn't it?"

"Go to hell, Baron," Alex muttered. "Or are you trying to pretend you didn't BEG me to come back?"

The despot's face fell into a deep scowl, and he sat back on his throne. "You know what I want. Let's make it quick."

Alexander dragged himself to the center of the room and stopped. "To be allies with the technical Lockshield bearer against the Heartless so you can fight them off? Sure, let's get through this with a bit of rules lawyering. But first... I want to hear a guarantee from the _other guy_."

Baron Praxis snarled for a moment, then slumped in his throne and pointed towards the door. "Guards. Leave us."

The elite Krimzon Guards filed out of the room, a little confused but well-trained enough to not show it too obviously. The massive gate shut behind them, leaving in the room only the Baron, Alex, and Ashelin, who was watching this all as calmly as she could manage. Then, a blue light flooded the room as a large projection of a giant Metal Head's face appeared in front of Alex.

 _"So, the time has come? Almost too late, Interference..."_ the Metal Head Leader snarled with its sharp-toothed maw and blank, glowing eyes.

Alex glanced back at Ashelin, who scowled at the projection. "I knew about this arrangement, but..." She didn't seem sure what to say, but she wasn't pleased. Alex wondered if this was perhaps this was her first time seeing the direct line between the two enemy leaders.

The Interference looked up and groaned, then glared back down at the Metal Head Leader. "If this is gonna work, you're gonna stay out of my way, and the way of any of my allies."

 _"A simple enough request,"_ the Metal Head Leader replied. _"The Heartless will be trouble enough for all of us."_

Alex moved around the side of the Metal Head's face so he could address Praxis behind him. "I'm gonna need resources, access, comms, total impunity to run ops. But most importantly, and this is NOT negotiable... You're both gonna need to give up on the Precursor Stone."

Both would-be kings burst into outrage.

"What?! You upstart, impertinent–"

 _"You wouldn't dare, that stone is–"_

"I KNOW! I know!" Alexander shouted them down, so angry that he didn't care that two mass killers were pissed off at him. He pointed at Baron Praxis. "You want the stone for your Piercer Bomb to finish the war once and for all." He turned to the Metal Head Leader, who was snarling at the shocked and embarrassed Baron. "And the stone is your whole reason for attacking and infiltrating the city in the first place! But too bad! You know why? _Because you're both destined to die in this story._ "

Caught off-guard and doublecrosses revealed, the two leaders figuratively bit their tongues and glared at Alex.

"You want to live?" Alex asked coldly. "Then follow my lead. Because otherwise, it'll be your own actions that doom you. Stay out of my way. Give up on the Precursor Stone. And just maybe, MAYBE we'll get out of this."

"You obviously know where it is," Praxis grumbled. "How do we know you won't just take it for yourself?!"

"Because I don't give a damn about it," Alex shot back. Glancing at the Metal Head, he added, "Besides, what's inside the stone is not what you're expecting." He returned his gaze to the Baron. "And your stupid plan would blow up the whole world, not just the nest, you daft moron."

The Metal Head Leader snarled and turned its giant head toward the throne. _"Make no mistake. Once this 'truce' is over, there will be no more 'deal.' We will RAZE this city and feed on every last resource you have. And you know as well as I that you don't stand a chance."_ Then the monstrous projection turned towards Alexander. _"Finish off Even and banish the Heartless, and I will let you and your friends flee before the inevitable."_

Baron Praxis bared all his teeth in an apoplectic snarl. "Why you...!"

"Done," Alex muttered. "The Metal Heads are now my allies."

The Metal Head Leader's face split in a beastly grin. _"Now the war truly begins...!"_ The projection disappeared.

Ashelin put a hand on Alex's shoulder. "Not to criticize your negotiation style, but you do realize you just doomed us all, right?" The glare on her tattooed face showed she wasn't exactly happy with this.

Brushing her off, Alex threw up his hands and replied, "You asked me to bring these cards to the table. Here they are. Besides, there's already a counter for the Metal Heads when it's needed. Penetrating the nest is already part of the plan."

The Baron was sitting at the edge of his throne, clutching the armrests tightly and breathing heavily, his teeth grit hard. It took him a dozen seconds to stop seeing red, and he practically jumped out of his seat to storm down the steps. "You... traitor!" he declared, a big meaty hand straying to the hilt of his sword. "You gave away years of planning, and for WHAT?!"

Alex didn't back down. What else did he have to lose? He grit his teeth too and got right up in the Baron's face. "To show you I'm serious. I can do much worse than _spoil the ending_. Up until now, I've been going _easy_ on you, Praxis. EASY!"

"Tough talk..." the Baron grunted, "for a kid with no powers or weapon, teetering on the edge of death."

"That just made it fun," Alex growled back. "Now I'm serious."

 _Clap... clap... clap._

"A stirring drama!"

All three of them turned around to see a swirling dark portal near the throne room's gate. Out stepped Even the humanoid Heartless, no longer in a plain black robe but a more stylish outfit somewhere between a lab coat and a royal raiment, adorned in golds, reds, and purples.

"GUARDS!" the Baron bellowed.

"Ah ah ah!" Even tutted, revealing the Heartless Seal Lockshield from behind his back. The sound of rifles banging against the metal gate behind him echoed through the hall, to no avail. "I've already Locked the door." A shimmer of light, a barrier, sealed the ostentatious, heavy door shut. "Let's just keep this between us, shall we?"

Alexander shut his eyes and groaned. His hatred welled up and overflowed from his exposed heart, flowing down his chest and his hands and legs, sapping the strength from him, even as a charge of Dark Eco primed to strength in his nervous system.

Ashelin drew a pistol and fired at Even. A red bolt of energy arced over to the Heartless scientist and then bounced away, revealing a magical shell of protection for a split second.

"There will be time to play in a moment, dear. The grownups are having an argument."

Ashelin said nothing and kept her gun trained on the sapient Heartless. Praxis drew his glowing green Eco-sword, pointing it imperiously at him.

Even continued walking towards them. When he got close enough to strike, Praxis lunged, but all he struck was black smoke. "You've really picked the perfect spot," Even noted from beside the throne. The back of the room was a glass enclosure looking out and down into the city hundreds of feet below. You could see almost every district in the light of midday.

Alex let out a cry of agony as the Dark Eco in his body responded to the darkness, zapping his body and frying the darkness away, so he might live a little longer.

Even raised a hand and sneered back at Alexander and the Praxises. "You can watch the whole city plunge into darkness." He snapped his fingers.

Out in Haven City, every so-called 'Dark Warrior' on patrol with a squad of Krimzon Guards turned on their so-called allies. A city-wide alert was raised in seconds. Four pillars of darkness erupted across the city, filling the sky with dark clouds that blotted out the sun.

Praxis kept his sword pointed at Even, but glanced down at Alexander's prone form through the metal plate covering his lost eye. "Alexander! NOW!"

Alex pulled himself together as much as he could, glaring hatefully at Even. "Krimzon Guards... on my side..."

Silently, he prayed that someone was out there, who could save the city...

* * *

Aqua felt it before she heard it.

"Oh, that's not good!" Pecker declared obviously as the ground shook.

The Keyblade Master was already rushing out of the tent, searching the skyline for the culprit when she spotted a pillar of darkness shooting up from another block of the Bazaar district. Screams of civilians, gunfire, and the skittering of shadowy monsters turned the air into a cacophony. But from the direction of the pillar of darkness, there were also booming steps that shook the ground further, and the sound of fruit stands being crushed.

Aqua readied herself and summoned the Master's Defender Keyblade to her hand. The moncaw flapped behind her and perched on her back, wings holding onto her shoulder.

"So... remember what I said about needing your help?" Pecker mumbled. "Now might be a good time."

Without replying, Aqua charged into the fray.

* * *

There was a rush of sound, and then screaming echoed across the northern districts.

"What in the world...?" Keira started to ask.

Lucca wielded her Wondershot once more, the light of the garage glinting off her thick glasses ominously. The power of Fire burned behind those eyes.

There was a beastly roar and what sounded like the beating of giant wings. A shadow passed over the Stadium.

* * *

Torn hid behind one of the rickety Slums buildings and watched as the Krimzon Guards struggled to shoot the Shadow and Soldier Heartless ducking and weaving around their group. The Guards' rate-of-fire was too slow, and their accuracy too poor when not shooting at unarmed civilians. Torn had no love left for the soldiers of the Krimzon Guard, but they were outclassed in a bad way.

"Chaaaaaaaaarge– Woooaaaoooooh!"

As he was barreling into the fray, Goofy tripped on an uneven patch of the road, falling onto his shield. He kept going, though, his shield scraping against the ground and bouncing with every bump, until he crashed into the whole fighting group, scattering them like bowling pins (and with roughly the same sound effect).

Young Samos peered around Torn for a moment, then gave Torn a look. "Are we _sure_ he's on our side?"

* * *

The fourth pillar burst out of the water of the Port, sending the ships and workers and guards into chaos. Flying and aquatic Heartless flooded outward from the portal, wading into gunfire from the Krimzon Guards.

Lea and Sig crouched down behind a stack of shipping crates. "Was, uh, this part of the mission?" Lea asked half-sarcastically.

"I wish!" Sig muttered back. "We were just going to hunt for explosive mines in the–" A deafening bubbling sound nearly drowned him out. "What the...?!"

Lea and Sig peered over the crates to see a massive splash rise up from the center of the Port, as something enormous emerged from the depths and darkness. It was a pure black giant, water dripping from its deformed musculature, its hair a mass of briny tentacles the color of the deep sea.

 _Huh..._ a rogue part of Lea's mind mused. _A water-element Darkside... What would you even call that, a 'Deepside'? No, focus!_ Lea shook his head and said, "I think that just became priority one!"

Sig watched around the corner of the box as the Krimzon Guards barely put up a fight against the invading Heartless. "This city might be doomed sooner than I expected..." He gave Lea as serious a look as he could muster. "I'm gonna be real with you. I've got an exit strategy if you want it, Cherry."

Lea scoffed and summoned his twin fiery chakrams. "Are you kidding?!" He leaped onto the crates and struck a fighting pose. "Lemme show you how we fight bosses where _I_ come from!"

Despite what he'd just said, Sig quickly nodded and got into the fighting spirit. He cocked his Metal Head skull-adorned rifle and primed its laser. "That's what I'm talkin' about. Wastelander style!" He came charging around the corner of the crates, while Lea dropped down beside him, and they shot fire and lasers into the horde of flying Heartless.

The watery Darkside took notice of the two strong, fighting hearts quickly, and started creeping towards them, displacing ships and mines as he waded through the murky waters. The mines he displaced didn't so much as blink or activate, for they couldn't sense any heat.

* * *

Jak and Daxter had dismounted from their Zoomer in the Industrial Sector, clearing out a group of robotic Heartless that were dismantling a KG turret. With his extra early upgrades for the Morph Gun, Jak dispatched the group quickly and at range with the blue-Eco-powered Vulcan Fury, though it cost him most of what little reserve ammo he had. He'd need a refill soon, and down every path there was more and more conflict.

"Welp, the obvious thing happened," Daxter muttered resignedly. "Now what?"

As the hero compacted the Morph Gun and slipped it into the holster on his back, Jak's communicator chirped and floated in front of him. _"Want to save the city, Jak?"_ asked a man's voice. _"Meet me in front of the Palace. It's the only way."_

The communicator closed, and Jak looked over at the Ottsel on his shoulder.

"Not gonna lie, that sounds shady. I'm open to other ideas, but..." Daxter shrugged.

The dynamic duo climbed back onto their Zoomer and flew at top speed above the fighting, setting a course towards the only source of hope on the horizon.


End file.
